The government is planning to make 44 highway
stretches totalling 27,000 km to be developed as “economic corridors” for
seamless movement of cargo vehicles, cut delays, deepen economic activities and
create jobs.
- This will be
the biggest highway expansion plan since the rolling out of Golden
Quadrilateral and North South East West Corridor, totalling 13,000 km during
the Vajpayee regime.
Details:
- The new
stretches pass through and connect major hubs of economic activities such as
manufacturing clusters and ports.
- It will help
in decongesting 30 top cities in the country by building ring roads and
logistics hubs along these corridors.
- The new plan
is expected to be completed in six years. The government is exploring several
funding options, including road development cess, loans from agencies and also
private investment.
- The government
is also planning to develop another 15,000 km as feeder routes to these
economic corridors. 40 interconnecting corridors will also be developed to link
44 economic corridors and the Golden Quadrilateral. This network will carry 80%
of the country’s freight.
- The government
will also rebrand national highways as national corridors, economic corridors
and feeder roads, a move aimed at helping in navigation and identifying the
roads. The corridors have been identified using satellite imagery.
In this
regard, the Union highways ministry is preparing a proposal to seek the cabinet
approval for the execution of this programme.
